Goodbye, my friend
by jungledruuuum
Summary: Everyone knows that the Doctor didn't have change to say goodbye to Adric during Earthshock. But what if the TARDIS goes wobbly and they meet again after 500 years? Summary sucks, fic itself is better than the summary. Oneshot. Based on a RP.


**A/N: Hello again! C: This is a oneshot fic based on a roleplay I had last night. Ten's parts are mostly written by my fantastic RPer friend DarthAbby in this roleplay: chatzy 88617458589025 Enjoy and please review! (:**

**Disclaimer: Doctor Who belongs to BBC and Ten's lines belong to DarthAbby.**

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_"Time isn't a strict line, it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff. Or that's how the Doctor explains it. Time is an odd thing, to normal people, but for people who have traveled with the Doctor, for them it means so much more…"_

It was just another evening for the tenth incarnation of the Doctor. He just had said goodbye to his friend and wiped her mind. He was tinkering under the TARDIS console panel, when the TARDIS made a weird noise and he heard someone walking in the room."Doctor? Where am I? What's going on?" A voice of young boy asked. Ten jumped up quickly and hit his head into the panel. "Adric?" He looked at his already passed companion. "Who are you, where's the Doctor?" "I am the Doctor, Adric. Another, well a future version of him." Ten said calmly. "At what point are we in your timeline?" Ten asked. "I was just trying to stop that ship from crashing Earth and the Cybermen are attacking us." Adric said. Ten frowned when realized what would happen next. "I'll find a way to get you back. Just hold on." He said and started to flick some levers and typing something into the panel. Adric looked around himself and saw the TARDIS database open in the screen and decided to search down himself, Nyssa and Tegan. He wanted to know what has happened, just quickly that the new Doctor wouldn't notice it. When he had already seen what will be waiting for Tegan and Nyssa, hopefully good lives, he looked for his own details. When he saw what will happen, he quickly closed the database and ran away. "Adric! Wait!"

Adric ran in one of the corridors. He saw a door on his right, quickly opened it and closed it behind himself. The room was the console room he knew. Adric sat down to the floor next to the console and let out a quiet sob. He was going to die. On that bloody spaceship he was trying to stop from crashing Earth.

Ten ran after Adric. The poor kid had just learned that he was going to die, and if Ten knew him, he had probably also looked up what happened to Nyssa and Tegan. Their stories had happier endings, but he was still leaving them soon. The TARDIS led Ten to one of the old control rooms, his Fifth self's to be precise. It made sense that would be where Adric would be most comfortable. He quietly opened the door and frowned sadly at the small figure sitting on the floor before walking over and sitting next to him without a word.

Adric let out a silent sob and looked at Ten. "Tegan and Nyssa are alright? That's all that matters..." "They're fine," Ten nodded, "Nyssa found a new planet where she could live and help others. Tegan finally got to Heathrow, in the end." Adric smiled a little. "You really never did seem to can find Heathrow." "I think she actually liked that," he smiled slightly, "She complained all the time about it, but she did seem almost sad to go when we did get there." Adric nodded. "Bet she did... What about you? Did you continue the same old life, just without us?" "Things are never the same after any of you leave. Oh, I continue on of course, but you all leave your mark somewhere." Ten stood up. "I'll leave for awhile. I need to find a way to solve this all." He said and left.

Adric sniffed and stood up too. He started type something to the old console of the TARDIS to make it work again. "Now... I think I should get back where I belong.- Or could I?.. Could I just stay here and go back after everything has happened... No. Too many paradoxes. But, I don't want to go back... I don't want the Doctor to leave them..." His face was puzzled. He really didn't know what to do. Adric gave up, he didn't know how to get back to his own timeline. "I think I'm really stuck here..."

He walked to the other side of the old console room and sat down into the corner. He was holding a tan colored hat with a red stripe on it. His Doctor's hat. He missed him. And Tegan and Nyssa also. He missed Romana too. A tear flowed down his cheek. He tried to be quiet and not to sob. He didn't want anyone to hear that he still was in the console room. Well, he failed, when he let out a quite loud sob and couldn't stop sobbing anymore.

"Almost. But not enough... There must be a way to solve this all…" Ten frowned when he heard the sob from the old console room. "Adric," he muttered, hurrying back out. He saw Ten hurrying in to the console room and tried to be silent. 'Please, don't notice me, don't notice me.' He thought silently in his own mind.

"Adric? You alright?" Ten asked without thinking. "No, sorry, of course you're not." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, making it stick up even more. He looked around the room. He didn't see Adric, but he knew the boy was still there. "It's awful when any of my friends die, but you...your...death... it was even worse than any of the others. You were - you *are* so young, with so much potential." He paused, but there was no response. "You remind me so much of myself when I was young." Adric let out a sob again and pressed his head into his knees and tightened his hold in the hat. "How many others have died?" He whispered and looked up at Ten. "Too many," Ten sighed. "Katarina. Sara. You. And others, who could have been, should have been companions, but died before they could. Astrid. Jenny. Too many..." Adric sniffed. "I don't want to go back there… Is there anything you can do?... Anything." "I know," Ten answered sadly, still unable to see Adric. "I don't want you to either. But you have to," Ten shut his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying not to let his eyes water up. "If there was anything I could do, I would do it in a heartbeat. But I can't."

Tears flowed down his cheeks. He couldn't stop himself crying. "I'll miss you..." He said his voice trembling. "I don't want to go... Doctor... I don't want to..." "I'll miss you too, Adric," he said thickly, trying to hold back the tears that threatened him. "I miss you every day. Every one of you. All the time." He started slowly walking towards the other side of the console, towards where he knew Adric was hiding. Adric heard him coming closer to himself. "You don't have to care about me. I have been dead for you for a long time..." He said his voice still shaking."That's true…" he frowned. "And you have never been just another companion to me, Adric. You're the closest thing I had to a son, ever since my own decided he didn't need me." His voice was starting to shake, too, but his steps were steady as he circled around the console and stopped in front of Adric. Adric looked up. He couldn't see his face, because the old console room was dark, only the console shone a little some greenish light. "Doctor... You don't have to send me back... Please..." Adric said, though he clearly knew that there was no other way. "I can't," he took a deep, shaking breath, "I can't do that, Adric, and you know it." Ten kneeled in front of him and pulled him into a tight hug. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I am so, so sorry."

He hugged Ten tightly, not letting go. He pressed his head onto his chest and cried. He took a shaking breath and broke into tears again. "Please... I... Don't make me go..." Adric whispered. "You can't..." Ten just held him tighter, ignoring the tears creating a wet patch on his favorite suit, the ones running down his own cheeks and into Adric's hair. They had never had a chance to say goodbye before, and now that the chance was here, he couldn't hold back. Adric couldn't move, or say anything, barely breath. He just didn't want to leave. He wouldn't see anyone again. And that's what made everything even more difficult. He just doesn't want to leave...

He knew exactly what was going through the boy's mind. Similar thoughts were going through his own mind. But there was nothing they could do. The only way any of them had come out of that alive was because of Adric's sacrifice. "I... I don't want to..." He whispered his voice shivering. "I don't want to say goodbye..." Tears were still flowing down his cheeks, leaving wet trails. 'I don't want to either,' Ten thinks darkly, Ood Sigma's words about his song ending coming to mind. "I know," he whispers instead.

Adric looked at him. "One last wish... Is there a way I can say goodbye to everyone...?" He asked silently Ten thought for a moment, then nodded slowly. "Yes. Yes, I think there is." "Can we do it?... I... I don't want to go without saying goodbye..." "Of course," Ten briefly hugged him one more time before jumping up with a big smile and holding his hand out. "Allons-y, Adric! Ooh, that's nearly as good as 'allons-y, Alonso'!" Adric smiled a bit and followed Ten. He already liked this new Doctor, but he still missed his Doctor. "What do I need to do?" "Just hang on," Ten smiled widely as he rushed into the control room and started flipping switches, pulling levers, and even pumping what looked suspiciously like a bicycle pump to start up the TARDIS. He smiled. He felt happy, for probably the last time ever... Then he would be dead... He wiped out those thoughts and decided to enjoy his last moments...

"Right!" Ten said, double checking the coordinates displayed on the monitor. "Brisbane, Australia, 1990. Six years after I finally got Tegan to Heathrow, and one year since she moved back home to help her father in his store." He threw the dematerialization lever and grabbed hold of the console as the TARDIS shuddered and shook through the Vortex. They landed with a loud thud and Adric walked outside behind Ten. Adric saw Tegan helping her father to carry boxes. She was happy and everything was fine. He smiled. Everything was fine with Tegan. He turned around to be ready to leave. When he closed the door he heard Tegan yell his name. "Let's go." He said quickly. He couldn't meet her, not now... Ten waved at Tegan, who was starting to run towards them, before stepping back inside the TARDIS with Adric and piloting them towards the distant planet where Nyssa had settled with her family.

"Nyssa is next...- I can't do this... This hurts too much... They see me for the first time after years and I... Say goodbye... No... I can't..." A tear fell down his cheek. They landed and Ten looked over at Adric. "We don't have to go out," he said gently. He looked at Ten. "I just can't..." He whispered. He saw a piece of paper and a pencil on the console. He grabbed them and started writing. 'Dear Nyssa. It's been years for you, but only few hours for me since we met. Hope you will live a long and happy life, not forgetting your friends or family. I have nothing else to say than thank you, Nyssa. And goodbye. ~Adric' He finished the note and walked outside and left it behind Nyssa's door. He knocked and walked away back to the TARDIS. "I'm ready..." Ten nodded silently, taking off again and letting them just float through the Vortex.

They stood in silence, when Adric just collapsed to the ground. "Doctor... I can't stand anymore... Fixed point in time... I've been away for too long." He was calm, but inside he was in total panic. Ten rushed over and gathered Adric into his arms again. "I know," he sighed, "I will find a way to take you back. I don't want to, I *really* don't want to," he took a deep breath, "But there's nothing to be done." Adric nodded slowly. "I understand that..." He closed his eyes. "Goodbye... Doctor..." He whispered and his body went limp. Tears welled up in Ten's eyes. "Goodbye, Adric." he whispered as the boy started to fade away.


End file.
